Following up on last
week’s look at the Eastern Conference, the starting five has been named for
the 2014 NBA All-Star Game, and the usual suspects are there: LeBron James,
Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony, along with Paul George, since voters aren’t
forced to choose a center anymore. The only “controversy” is with the second
guard on the list: Kyrie Irving (20.2 PER) of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I use the ironic quotes because, of course,
nobody south of the 49th Parallel cares about the Toronto Raptors and Kyle
Lowry (20.0 PER), who’s easily the best point guard in the East right now.
Lowry didn’t even finish among the Top 10 backcourt players. But Derrick Rose
was there – in fourth place. Rajon Rondo finished sixth. Oh well, it’s the fans
voting, and they’re the ones who make the NBA betting lines so soft for us.
Expect a little more backlash when the All-Star reserves are announced and
Lowry is still left off the team.

Orlando
Magic

Lowry was at it again Wednesday night,
dumping 33 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds on the Magic (12-35 SU, 19-28
ATS) in a 98-83 victory. Orlando lost as a 9.5-point road dog, dropping the
cash for the third game in a row after a brief 4-2 ATS run. There was some good
news for the Magic: Center Nikola Vucevic (17.8 PER) had 16 points and 10
rebounds in just 20 minutes, looking very good indeed after missing 12 games
with a concussion. This is just about as healthy as the Magic have been all
season, but aside from Vucevic and Aaron Afflalo (17.8 PER), none of their
players is performing at or above the indexed league average of 15.0 PER. This
is one stinky basketball team.

Miami
Heat

Well, the Heat (32-13 SU, 19-26 ATS) did it
to me again. I thought they may have turned
the corner in last Sunday’s 113-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs (+3.5
away), but then Miami soiled the bed Wednesday against the Oklahoma City
Thunder (+4 away), shooting 3-of-19 from downtown and committing 20 turnovers
in an ugly 112-95 affair. Greg Oden (15.3 PER) didn’t play. Michael Beasley
(17.2 PER) only played seven minutes. The Heat bench was outscored 39-21.
You’re not going to beat the NBA lines like that; Miami is now 1-4 ATS in its
last five games and 6-13 ATS since Dec. 23.

Boston
Celtics

Life could be worse. The Celtics (15-33 SU,
22-25-1 ATS) continued their cold streak on Wednesday, losing 95-94 to the
Philadelphia 76ers (+4 away) and comfortably sliding UNDER the 203.5-point
total. Score another
one for the good guys. Boston falls to 0-4 SU and ATS in its last four
games and 2-6 ATS since Rondo returned from the injury list, although he sat
out Wednesday’s loss as expected. Phil Pressey (7.9 PER) got the start at point
guard and had more turnovers (five) than points (two). Mmmm… turnovers.

Atlanta
Hawks

With all the injuries the Hawks (23-21 SU,
24-20 ATS) are dealing with, it’ll be a cold day in Georgia before they start
beating the NBA lines again – what’s that? Polar vortex? Atlanta’s game against
the Detroit Pistons was postponed due to the winter storm sweeping the Dirty
South, which is too bad, because the Hawks are an intriguing buy-low candidate
after both Jeff Teague (16.1 PER) and Pero Antic (12.4 PER) were knocked out of
the starting lineup. Atlanta’s reserves nearly upset the Thunder (–10 at home)
on Monday, losing 111-109. This is a chance for Gustavo Ayon (14.9 career PER)
to remind people he’s a good center, and for Shelvin Mack (15.4 PER) to flash
those two-way skills. Once the ice melts, that is.